Report: Notre Dame in Talks to Join ACC as Full Member

In short, WVU used to be conference mates with all but three of the current ACC (FSU, Virginia and Notre Dame).

They were in the Southern conference with Maryland, Wake, Duke, UNC-CH, State, South Carolina and Clemson until those schools left to start the ACC. They were left behind in the SoCon along with future ACC member Virginia Tech for purely geographic reasons -- travel to Morgantown and Blacksburg for away games before the Interstate Highway System meant harrowing bus rides on state or county maintained mountain roads rather than the easy train or bus trips east of the mountains. It had nothing to do with academics at either VT or WVU -- if academics had been a factor then, Maryland, State and South Carolina probably wouldn't have made that cut either but W&M, Richmond and Davidson would have.

Fifty years later they had been in the Big East with BC, Miami, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and Pitt for 10 years or so. A faction in the ACC wanted to expand to 12 teams to add a conference championship game, but needed seven votes (3/4 of 9). The expansion faction wanted Miami, BC and Syracuse (three private schools). It became public and messy. Wake flipped to the expansion side for the good of the conference, because that's the kind of thing Wake does. I don't know if WVU was looked at by the expansionists at the time, but it probably wouldn't have mattered. Governor (now Senator) Warner intervened to flip UVA's vote for expansion as long as it included VT. If WVU was a candidate then, they would have replaced BC or Miami which would have meant adding two large public schools (probably costing Wake's vote).

They spent another 10 years or so with Syracuse, Pitt and Louisville in the new Big East until Syracuse and Pitt left.

I really believe if WVU had kept their powder dry and not joined the Big 12-4 when they did, they'd be in the ACC now as Maryland's replacement, and would have spent a few years splitting the Big East exit fees with UConn in the meantime, rather than taking a partial share of Big 12 revenue.

/r/CFB Thread Parent Link - yahoo.com